Last night was a bus with so much good stuff happening in Oklahoma City. The first thing I went to was a Media Event for OKC Outlets to celebrate their new look. OKC Outlets is Oklahoma’s only outlet shopping experience. The event was part of their relaunch with an unveiling celebration with property representatives, civic leaders, and honored veterans. Since their relaunch was just two days before Veterans Day, they made a donation to the YMCA’s Military Welcome Center at the airport.
Next on my list was the Abstract Passages Opening Celebration, which is a new underpass mural by Kris Kanaly. However, I tried to make my way to the event, but due to traffic and getting light bulbs, I knew I was going to miss the artist talk and I ended up going straight to Factory Obscura’s Shift opening. There, I was first in line!
I filmed this video of my experience of Factory Obscura last night, which sums up how amazing it is. Later today I’m going back to do interviews for Uncovering Oklahoma.
Then after Factory Obscura, I went to Ginna Dowling’s Hieroglyphics 2017: The Spirit of our People art opening at Oklahoma Contemporary’s Showroom, which is really cool to see at night. Ginna Dowling’s hieroglyphs are contemporary versions of ancient symbols. Using the simplest of methods — tearing construction paper by hand — she constructs visual symbols for important aspects of her own life, as well as the lives of people around her. These forms are translated into vinyl, which she develops into site-specific installations. In addition to creating her own forms, Ginna works with members of the community to add onto her installations. She finds that the simplicity of the process allows everyone to explore their own creativity. Ginna will be conducting workshops while her pieces are installed at the Showroom, the results of which will eventually become part of this exhibition. In addition, visitors can drop in during Showroom hours to create their own “hieroglyphics.”
When I was done for the night, I stopped at Target for some night cold medicine. While I’m here, I want to make a quick public service announcement: sometimes people aren’t talkative this time of the year because their voice hurts. They aren’t being rude. They may just don’t want to talk. Anyway, I’m feeling better this morning.